


Shadows light

by EnergeticPurpleLizard



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Awoken Character, F/M, Slow Burn, cayde-6 romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 07:07:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21798310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnergeticPurpleLizard/pseuds/EnergeticPurpleLizard
Summary: Xevera was once a guardian before her light was taken. Now she runs with the fallen as if she was one of them. But on a simple infiltration mission on the tower, she is caught by non other then Cayde-6.The vanguard wishes to execute her for her crimes, but Cayde is determined to bring her back to the light. Now Xevera must choose between the darkness that blinded her and the light that rebirthed her. The choice is more difficult then it seems.
Relationships: Cayde-6/Female Guardian (Destiny)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 48





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Ah sorry this is kinda short, don’t worry future chapters will be longer! :)

Xevera tightened her firm grip on the metal support beam that she had been sleeping on only seconds ago. A loud bang filled the air as the heavy door to her dark room was knocked open. The awoken blinked her intense purple eyes, “velask, nix” she stated calmly. The petite woman quickly lowered herself to the cold floor below with ease.

Nix took a step into the dark room, the hue from his blue eyes reflected off of her soft freckled sprinkled, violet face. The vandal spoke in clumsy English, while inserting words from his own tongue into his speech. “Xevera, pak caption is asking for you,” he stated. The awoken twirled a lock of pastel pink hair in her fingers nervously.

"Ne? Are you sure nix?" She asked cautiously. The fallen nodded his head.

"Eia, me as well." He fumbled.

"Leave me, I'll meet you outside his quarters shortly." The vandal stilled, attempting to process the full English sentence. The awoken gave him a sympathetic look before repeating the sentence in eliksni. The male nodded before swiftly exiting the dark room, closing the door behind him.

Xevera pushed her hair back before approaching a metal chest in the back of the room. She opened it and wrapped her hands around her custom armor that the captain had made for her after she proved herself as a member of the house of dusk. 

The armor was nothing special, simply a house of dusk vandals set created to fit a human. Xevera swiftly pulled the armor out without a sound.

It took about eight minutes to equip the entire armor set, and an extra two minutes to get her helmet on. The metal object clicked on with ease and lit up with a light blue as it sensed its connection with the rest of the set. A little trick to disguise her as a fallen during close calls with humanoids, especially guardians.

Xevera, with her purple house of dusk armor equipped, swiftly made her way to the captain's quarters on the ship. She felt almost sick when the door came into view. Nix was waiting for her when she arrived. "Be careful he is in a bad mood." The tall alien warned.

Xevera took a moment to nod in approval at the full English sentence before replying. "Eia, ne tas." Yes, I know. Dread was starting to pile up in her gut. Nix seemed to sense this and gently put a huge hand on her small shoulder before removing it and turning to open the door.

When the doors opened, nix quickly tackled the awoken woman to the floor as a chunk of metal was thrown their way. "Lirsoveks!", an angry voice howled.

Xevera cringed at the nasty insult, feeling sympathy with whoever was on the receiving end. The captain snapped his gaze to the two that were currently on the ground looking for cover from his rage. "Get up!" 

Nix quickly jumped to his feet before using one of his four arms to pull the woman up off the ground. The angry captain didn't bother using a lick of English as he ranted. "I knew I shouldn't have trusted those imbeciles! Those disgusting guardians have it!" He used a claw to slice into the wall as he yelled. The awoken was glad that he didn't target any of the control panels or computers in the room.

"Damn filth! I'll get it back! I swear to the machine I will get it back!" Nix shuffled closer

"What did they kle?" Kle means steal, Xevera reminded herself. The caption turned around viciously, like a caged animal looking for its daily scraps. Nix stood his ground.

"The map!" He screamed in perfect English as he charged at Xevera. "You and this one will get it back for me." Xevera blinked at the closeness of the male as he leaned into her, his breathing making audio noises in his mask. Fear leaked into her mind.

The awoken didn't need explanation as to what map the alien referred to. She knew the fallen captain had a digital map that led straight to his stash of salvageable machinery that he had collected throughout his life. He claimed that one day he would create a great machine out of them. "How will we get it?"

The fallen sneered and turned around. "You used to be one of their kind, I'm sure you'll figure it out." He calmly walked over to a control panel and started to type. "I don't care what you have to do, just do it. Nix will be on standby if you fail and die." He said in his tongue. 

Xevera nodded and stepped out of the control room, nix following her. "Des, what dos we dos?" Wait, what do we do?, Xevera translates in her head as she walked down the corridor.

"Ne will das to the tower and kle the map from them." She responded as they reached her ship. It was a beautiful machine that the fallen allowed her to keep when they adopted her into the house of dusk. "Now go to my room and grab my bow, knife and hand cannon."

The vandal took a moment to translate the sentence before rushing off. Xevera sighed and pulled up her tethered purple hood over her mask and slid her back down the wall behind her. She was terrified of going back to the tower, even more terrified to be in the presence of the traveler again.

She opened her palm and concentrated as hard as she could, for a second she saw a flicker of purple void light. In a split second, she saw beauty, passion, hate and sadness. Then it was gone. The ex night stalker sighed and slid her knees to her chest.

She was fucking terrified to say the least. And she was right to be.

***

Xevera landed her ship inside a clearing of trees right outside of the city walls. It was almost night, the traveler stared at her from above, she ignored it.

She was easily able to slip into the city using the sewer system. Once she was inside, her tattered purple cloak was able to keep her purple fallen armor hidden. But that was mostly due to her petite frame. 

Nobody batted an eye at her as she passed. Guardians in the streets didn't even look her way. A few children who had noticed her had squealed with joy before running off to their parents to tell them about their encounter with what they believed to be a guardian.

This brought back memories. Good ones. But the good memories reminded her of the bad so she simply focused on the mission. Nix was silent on the com as he usually was, after all the alien was a thinker, yet a brute without even knowing it. The vandal was currently at an abandoned station on the moon on stand-bye. Xevera doubted that he would have to do anything besides report to the captain when this was over.

The city had changed, Xevera hadn't seen it since before the red war but she could easily see the newer tiles and cement on the buildings around her. More shops were open, each with thick iron bars over the windows. Children didn't stray far from their paranoid parents. Guardians patrolled the streets but focused on the sky, barely even noticing the people around them.

Xevera felt guilt tug at her as she noticed how many people had guns at their sides and sharp knives in their pockets. The vanguard never allowed civilians to be armed. They believed that the only weapons the people needed were the guardians. Looks like the red war convinced them otherwise.

Finally came the moment she had been dreading. An overwhelming weight came onto her shoulders as the commotion of the city turned to static. She had reached the tower.


	2. Caught

Cayde-6 casually strolled through the tower, waving at sleepy hunters as they retired to their homes too escape the bitter winter cold. He had successfully convinced Ikora and Zavala that he needed to go check on some "reports" of suspicious ctivity in the hanger.

Of course the fire team had been hesitant about sending him, but after Cayde started threatening to take colonel to work the next day if they didn't let him go, the vanguard happily let him walk out the door.The exo doubted they forgot what happened last time Cayde showed up to a meeting with the chicken. Let's just say that the two inch deep scratch in Zavala's armor wasn't gained in battle.

So in a nutshell, Cayde was free to wreak havoc on every spicy ramen place in the city. But first he needed to head towards the hanger.

The vanguard had eyes all over the tower, so Cayde needed to make sure those eyes saw what they needed to see. The hunter approached the hanger and paused. Someone was hiding. And doing a hell of a good job too. He was almost impressed. Almost.

The strange thing was, he could not sense any light but his own. The exo tensed slightly before continuing on his way into the hanger. Whistling a tune as we went, a sly smile on his lips.

***

Holy shit. Xeveras felt the excitement flowing through her. She has just successfully hid from Cayde-6. The Hunter vanguard. Her cheeks flushed blue in excitement while her legs burned in adrenaline.

As soon as she heard footsteps coming she had launched herself onto a support beam on the concrete ceiling and stilled her breath. He had walked right by her!

Xeveras carefully unsheathed her twisted knife and lowered herself onto the ground. She silently slid over to a door that was hidden in the corner of the room. The awoken made sure the coast was clear before reaching into a pocket of her fallen uniform and pulling out a small machine that she attached to the keypad beside the door. The red light on the small device turned green within a minute and the door clicked open. Xeveras quickly grabbed the tec before slipping in.

She tightened her hold on her knife as she advanced into the dark room. The blue eye shaped lights of her fallen helmet were the only trace of light in the dark room. After a few minutes she stopped at a small shelf. There it was, a small purple USB designed specifically for fallen computers. She smirked.

She missed the thrill of stealth, she hadn’t got much of it with the fallen. The strange aliens preferred more a forward approach to combat, which Xevera didn’t complain about.

Xeveras had reached her gloved hand towards the USB when she felt it. A large knife being buried into her lower back. A hunter's knife. Her scream came out mangled through her mask as she fell to the floor, her gloved hands catching her. "Look at you, been a while since I've seen one as confident as you." She froze. The lights all came on all at once.

She turned her head to be met with the wrong side of a hand cannon. Not just any hand cannon, the ace of spades, weapon of Cayde-6. Xeveras quickly attempted to stand before collapsing as soon as she raised her back, and almost stabbed herself with her own knife. 

"Hey calm down my ugly friend. As long as you don't do anything stupid, you might make it out alive. The vanguard doesn't have a procedure with this type of thing so I'll just take you to them, sound fair buddy?"

The awoken said nothing under the mask. "Huh, your from the house of dusk, I've yet to fight anyone from the house of dusk. Don't make yourself my first." He said darkly before backing up and motioning for Xeveras to get up. She tried again, this time she pulled the knife out of her back before hand, grunting as the blade unlogged itself from her back. She tossed the metal at Cayde who skillfully grabbed it in the air with his off hand.

Xeveras grabbed onto a pole holding up a shelf and hauled herself up. Now at her full height Cayde narrowed his eyes at her. "You're not fallen..." his hand cannon lowered slightly.

The female said nothing as Cayde scanned her body. It was stupid to even consider her to be fallen in this light. Her body was slim and muscled, the shape of her breast was visible under the light leather covering them. Xeveras growled and slammed her cape around herself and Cayde quickly put his hands up in defense. "I wasn't staring! Long....."

Xeveras wanted to pounce but the purple blood running down her back and soaking into her cloak stopped her. The awoken grunted and held her knife defensively. Cayde neared her, "guardians don't kill civilians, criminals or not." He said in a serious tone. Xeveras laughed.

"Your going to regret that rule, sloat" she growled. Sloat, meaning prey. Cayde didn't have much time to react as she pounced. She tackled the exo and relentlessly slashed at him with her knife. He cursed and kicked her off of him. The woman let out an animalistic hiss as she was thrown across the room.

The hunter was on his feet faster than Xeveras could register. "We don't kill civilians, but there's no rule about harming criminals." Xeveras roared and sheathed her knife and took out her bow. She fired a headshot. Cayde stood there for a moment with an arrow sticking out of his head then smiled. "Ya know you should totally give Zavala some lessons, he sucks at headshots."

Xeveras reloaded her arrow and aimed it towards him, the hunter gave her a goofy smile. "Well hate to break it to you, but you wouldn't make much of a hunter..."

The female narrowed her eyes behind the fallen mask, "and why is that?"

"Hunters stay aware of their surroundings." He said in a matter of fact tone. Xeveras froze and looked up, a small ghost hovered above her.

"Oh fuck me..." a flash of light appeared before a pile of heavy chains were thrown on her. The female collapsed and didn't bother trying to get up this time. The ghost quickly flew over to her guardian and healed him. The now healed hunter approached her. Xeveras struggled under the weight of the chains.

To her surprise the vanguard went right past her and instead picked up the USB and examined it. "Huh, guess this thing isn't as valueless as it seems." He pocketed the small USB before turning to the woman on the ground. "Hmm I think we'll wait until I bring you to the vanguard to unmask you. It brings suspense."

The exo held out his hand and in a flash of light appeared a pair of metal cuffs. "Hey Sundance, you mind getting her weapons? Don't forget the knife." The ghost did as instructed and stole the items in a flash of light. Cayde then got on top of the awoken and started the process of removing the heavy chains.

The woman growled.

Once the last chain was removed Xeveras didn't waste the opportunity to twist around and punch him. This proved to be a mistake as her hand started to ache. "Yup, just like punching a metal wall, am I right?" The hunter lifted himself up slightly so he could flip the woman on her back. Xeveras struggled as the vanguard slipped the cuffs around her armored wrist.

"Okie dokie, let's get a move on! Oh c'mon don't look so grim, if they do decide to execute you, it will be painless." He said in a cheery voice.

That didn't comfort her in the slightest.


	3. The vangaurd

It was hard but Cayde had successfully taken the half feral woman to the vanguard kicking and screaming. Due to the dark night sky and Xevera fallen armor, she was mistaken by everyone as a fallen. Guardians had their weapons out, civilians hid behind the guardians, Cayde just smiled and waved.

Xevera squirmed and screamed out every curse word in eliksni she knew. "Lirsoveks!" She screamed, this time it caught the hunter's attention.

"Ok, I actually want to know what that one means, I've been called it so many times...." he mumbled as he finally hauled her into the vanguards meeting hall. 

The two other vanguards in the room snapped their gazes over at the commotion. "Cayde, what is going on here?" Zavala demanded as Xevera managed to throw the exo to the side, but the hunter refused to lose his grip on her.

"Oh you know the usual, arresting feral women in fallen armor and getting an arrow to the head, which is weird, I usually get them to the knee." Xevera elbowed him hard as he attempted to go for her cuffs. "Damn, this is just like bullfighting."

Ikora narrowed her gaze before raising her hand up, suddenly Xevera was slammed to the ground by a force. "That's enough of that." The warlock said calmly. "Unmask her."

"Oh this will be tricky..." he reached towards the base of her helmet, the action was met with a growl but Ikora's magic held her down. The hunter took hold of the base of the helmet and gently turned it until he heard a click. The blue lights went off and the helmet was taken off of her head. The room stilled.

"Xevera?" Zavala asked, uncertain of his own vision. 

The woman looked up at them, a scowl on her violet face. Her pink hair covering one of her purple eyes. "Oh the look on your faces... you really thought that you could just leave me didn't you? Just let me die and sweep me under the rug eh?" 

"What are you talking about?" Ikora asked horrified. Xevera only laughed coldly.

"Sandy and Joseph, two human titans. They left me. They killed him when he tried to save me." Ikora opened her mouth to say something but Xevera whipped her head up to stare directly at her, tears in her eyes. "You know damn well who! His name was Sam! He was an awoken male warlock! And they slaughtered him like a dog!"

Ikora backed away, a neutral look on her face, never breaking their stare. The warlock mumbled a command to a control room personnel who quickly pulled out a touchpad and began typing. The woman blinked at the screen in front of her, "all three names expired, sometime when the guardians lost their light."

Zavala looked over at Xevera, his face tightening, "what did you do to my titans?" He asked, a deathly calm in his voice.

Xevera stilled her movements, "I watched." 

"So... your innocent?" Cayde asked slyly.

"I watched them die after I pushed them both in a hive infested hole in the ground." 

"Annnnnndddd your not innocent."

Zavala's glare bore into her soul as the two locked eyes, "execution. Tomorrow at dawn."

"Woah woah woah! Some crazy chick in a fallen costume shows up and tells her side of an unsolved story and you believe her? Look at her! She's clearly lost it!" Cayde jumped up in her defense.

"I'm perfectly sane." Xevera growled.

"Shut it crazy lady, I'm trying to prevent your death here." The exo turned to the vanguard. "Please guys, she doesn't have her light! We have no idea where she has been, she clearly not entirely sane! We don't know what the fallen did to her and we don't know what those titans did to her and this Sam guy!" The yelled.

"We can't just execute her because she said she did something. Let's be reasonable here! And plus she was a hunter sooo she my problem." The exo said while patting the awokens head, earning him a growl.

"She became my problem when she confessed to murdering two of my titans!" Zavala yelled from across the table, slamming his hands down. Cayde placed his hand on his weapon, Zavala did the same. 

Ikora quickly stood in front of Cayde. "He's right Zavala, this woman is clearly in some kind of shock, and we don't even know the full story." Her eyes turned sympathetic as she looked at Zavala, "I remember Sam, he was a good kid. If we kill her right now, he could never receive justice."

The two vanguards let go of their weapons, "so please, let's get to the bottom of this."

The warlock turned to Cayde, "take her to the holding cells, have her stripped of any armor or weapons. I will have a word with Zavala before we join you."

Cayde nodded before taking the females cuffs in his hands and firmly pulling her.

***

Xevera had never seen this part of the tower before. It was dark, barely lit by dying light bulbs. Empty cells surrounded them as the pair kept walking forward. Cayde had yet to say a word.

"You should of let them kill me." She stated in a dead tone. Cayde didn't look at her.

"You should have told them the straight truth, not some riddle."

Xevera turned away in response, "I don't even know the truth anymore. It's buried too deep." 

"Than you better start digging." Was all he said.

Cayed stopped at a small windowless cell before pulling out a key and opening it. The exo stood aside and motioned her to enter. Xevera paused, looking into the dark cell. "Don't make me force you in, trust me when I say neither of us want that." The woman glared at him before hesitantly entering, Cayde followed.

"You heard Ikora, armor has to go. If you don't have anything under the armor I can go get you something." Xevera just glared at him before removing her armor piece by piece, revealing soft black fabric underneath, covering her entire body. The awoken slammed the armor into the exos arms, hoping that one of the spikes stabbed him. "Boots too, can't have you kicking your way out."

"Lirsoveks!" She seethed as she practically threw her boots at the hunter. This time Cayde cracked a smile.

"So what does that wonderful sounding phrase mean?" He asked. Xevera growled.

"It means you can go fuck yourself." She said coldly before sliding her back down the wall and sitting down.

"Ok damn, last time I use you as a translator." The exo walked out of the cell, leaving Xevera alone with an open cell. She got up but in that same moment Cayde came strolling back with something in his arms.

"What are you doing?" She asked coldly.

"Making sure you don't escape. Sundance, a little light please?" The little ghost came out in a flash of light before opening her shell to shine a broad light throughout the room. Xevera shielded her eyes with a growl. It had been a while since she had been around such light. 

Cayde took her momentary blindness as an advantage a strolled over. Grabbed one of her arms and rolled up her sleeve. He slipped on a thick white metal cuff that went from her wrist to under her elbow. Then quickly did the same before Xevera harshly pushed him off. "Ok my caged little bird, you now have a special pair of cuffs on you. They can do all sorts of wonderful things, like inject you with a sleeping serum or tightening whenever you feel any strong emotions." 

Xeveras looked down at the objects on her wrist, "fancy. What's stopping me from snapping someone's neck and making a run for it?" She asked with harshness in her tone.

"Oh ya know the usual, burns." He stated casually as leaned against the wall. "Basically if you leave this cell, you will be burned, if you do anything to piss someone off they will burn you."

"How the hell does that work?"

"Remote. Also your cuffs are set to burn when you exit the cell unless someone flicks a switch on the remote." The exo must have noticed the grim her on her face as he said in a sympathetic voice, "ya, sorry for the harshness of it. This is meant for guardians who can heal and take some serious punches. To them the burn feels like a small shock."

"Since when did you need punishment for guardians?" She asked, curious of the answer.

"We've always had this, just rarely needed to use it. This is the first time it hasn't been used for a simple code violation or something small like that." He said, looking almost troubled.

"And the execution?"

The hunter tensed, "we've only done it once. About a century ago, some guardian had been corrupted by the darkness after a mission to a hive base. He was insane, he couldn't be stopped. So me and Zavala dragged that poor boy out to edge of the tower and demanded that his ghost leave him. She was a stubborn little thing but in the end she didn't want her guardian to suffer any longer." The exos voice cracked slightly, catching Xevera attention.

Her eyes observed him like a lion observes his wounded prey.

He paused to take a breath before continuing. “The ghost left before we did it, she refused to watch. We took the kid to the back of the tower, and threw him off the wall.” Xevera said nothing as Cayde silently stared at wall. “He died on impact of course. The wolves feasted on his flesh that night.”

“Didn’t you at least try to help him? Or did you just execute him out of fear?” She demanded harshly.

“We tried we really did. The kid bit off his elbow clean off to free himself from the cuffs. We couldn’t even make it to the prison. He killed any civilians he made contact with. Guardians weren’t safe either. He didn’t get the chance to kill one but he sure as hell tried.”

Xevera stared at the vanguard before burrowing her head in her knees. “When you throw me off that tower, do it at night. I don’t want the traveler to see me die in the light of day.” Cayde opened his mouth but could not say anything when the pair heard it.

Ikora and Zavala’s footsteps filled their ears.


	4. Life

The vanguard fireteam filled the room, Xevera had squeezed herself in a corner and did everything she could to make herself look as small as possible. "Ok maybe being on the other side of the door will be less intimidating? She isn't going to tell us anything if we hover."

Xevera didn't move an inch until she heard the closing of the cell door. The awoken slowly looked up at the vanguard on the other side of the door. Zavala stepped close to the door, a coldness in his gaze. "I want the full story and I want it now."

She locked eyes with him, her purple eyes were bright in the dark of the cell. "We were on a mission when our light disappeared. I had been cornered by the fallen. The titans started running when they felt their light leave. Sam pointed a rifle at them. Threatening them to come and help me. Sandy took hold of him and snapped his neck. I snapped. I slaughtered the fallen and chased the two for miles. They eventually found a cannon that the hive had made its nest. They planned to get rid of me."

The pinked haired woman smiled, "I beat them to it." Xevera stood up to her full height. "I watched as those bastards were torn limb from limb. Literally."

"Liar! A Guardian would never murder another!" Zavala yelled as he slammed in wrist against the bars of the cell. Xevera cringed as she felt the cuffs tightening on her wrist.

She spoke through gritted teeth "like it or not Zavala, at the end of the day all guardians are just domesticated wolves. We are sheltered and fed by the light so we can fight its enemies but as soon as that light leaves us alone, we don't know what to do. We are all alone in a dark forest, all we have is our instincts and will to live." She advanced to the door.

"They were just scared pups. They were afraid of death. Afraid of me, afraid of Sam. Kill me, throw me off the tower, shoot me, I don't care. Just know that at the end of the day, I will always be braver than your coward titans." Xevera wanted to spit in his face but she restrained herself and backed away until her back hit a wall.

"How did you end up with the fallen?" Cayde asked, moving Zavala to the side to stand in front of the door.

Xevera had a soft smile on her lips, "nix found me and brought me to his caption. They wanted to kill me but I convinced them that I was useful. At first I was only a prisoner, my only way of communication was through the captain, he was fluent in English. Eventually I learned enough of their language to communicate with some of the lower ranking fallen. Soon I was trusted to go on missions.”

“And what about the armor, did you make it?” Ikora questioned. Xevera shook her head.

“No the captain had it made for me so the rest of the house wouldn’t suspect that he had an awoken on bored. I wasn’t allowed to take the armor off unless I was in my room.” She explained.

“Who’s this nix?” Cayde asked.

“My friend.” She stated firmly. Ikora stepped up to the door.

“Where is your light?” Xevera visibly flinched. Zavala narrowed his eyes.

“Dead.”

“How?” Ikora asked, opening the cell door despite cayde's protest. Xevera pressed herself against the wall.

“It just is.” Xevera stated as ikora got closer. And closer. Until the two women were barely an inch apart.

“Where is your ghost?” Xevera tried to control her breathing as ikaros eyes bore into her own.

“That’s enough questions!” She yelled, sliding on the wall to get away from the warlock. “Leave me alone!”

Ikora frowned at her response. Zavala entered the cell but ikora met his gaze. “We have no right to execute her. She killed those titans out of justice and self defense.” 

The titan was clearly displeased. “That doesn’t change the fact that she is one of them now. She no longer has the light, she probably killed guardians during her time with the fallen!”

“The only blood that I’ve spilt while in that armor is rival fallen blood.” Xevera said.

“Even if we humor her by believing that, she still attempted to steal from the towers vault!” The awoken yelled.

“Fine then, we shall give her the proper punishment for that! But execution is out of the question. Besides, I want to know what happened to her light.” Ikora said confidently. Zavala snarled and paced for a moment.

“Since she is now considered a civilian, I sentence her to five months in this cell. After that we will confiscate any weapons and armor and she will be free to go.” Zavala stated.

Xevera didn’t say a word as ikora nodded and the two vanguard left. “Well that went better than I expected.” The woman snapped her head to the exo at the door. She had forgotten about him. She narrowed her gaze. “I guess they talked to their spies before coming here.”

“Leave me alone.” She said coldly. The exo walked towards her.

“Let me make a deal. I will get you something for that knife wound,” Xevera hadn’t forgotten about the stinging in her back. “And you will tell me where what’s left of your ghost is, sound fair?” 

“Fine.”

“Great! I’ll grab you something to eat while I’m at it. Hope you like ramen!” And with that the exo and his ghost left her all alone. Xevera looked at the door. Debating on trying it. It could be that only the doorways caused burning. She thought for a moment before making a run for it. She was wrong.

The burning got worse the further she went. She kept running until she found what she was looking for. Her equipment. The female quickly grabbed her knife before running back to her cell. There was no way she was going to make it out of their through force, she would have to be cunning. The cuffs became tight as they sensed her adrenaline.

She felt around the cold cement floor until she found a deep gash in the ground. Xevera assumed that it was from the attack. She carefully placed the knife at at angle that it wouldn’t be seen from the cell door. As she was adjusting the blade she heard footsteps. Cayde.

She quickly shoved the knife down before standing up and casually waiting by the cell door. “Okay I’m back. I bet you're wondering how I got back so fast, let’s just say being a vanguard at a ramen place has its perks. The med kit was on a wall on the way here.” The exo opened the door and stepped in. He carefully placed two ramen containers on the ground before motioning her over.

Xevera carefully walked over and sat down in front of him, he did the same, placing the med kit on the floor. “Okay just lay down on your stomach.” He said as he reached into the medkit.

The female sighed before sliding off her long sleeved shirt to reveal a simple black bra. Cayde was finding it a bit difficult to grab the right supplies while battling the urge to look over at her. Xevera did as told and rested on her stomach with her arms folded on top of eachother to support her head.

Xevera cringed slightly as she felt her purple blood flow off of her back like water. It stung like hell. “Ok not going to lie here, I’ve never done this. But don’t worry Sundance here is a trained medic!”

“No I’m not.” The ghost stated.

“Shh! You want her to know that?” Cayde whispered. Xevera shifted nervously but didn’t say a word. “Well anyway, you know the deal, start talking my fallen wannabe friend.”

“My ghost has been dead since the red war. I don’t know where it’s remains are.” Xevera said. She tensed when she felt the sting of Cayde cleaning the wound.

“Sheesh kid, this wound is pretty deep. Makes me wonder how you're still standing.” Xevera closed her eyes and graced herself as she felt the prick of a needle as Cayde began to sew the wound. 

“Makes you wonder who did it” she snapped.

Cayde didn’t flinch from his work, “Damn, you really are feral aren’t you?” 

“Running with the fallen will do that to you. They are a very unforgiving species.” She growled when she felt a hand trace one of the many scars going down her back.

“I can tell. I thought the fallen preferred cutting off arms.” He said as he resumed his work.

“Two arms is as few as it gets for the fallen, so whipping will do.” Cayde didn’t respond, only cut the string and put the tools back in the med kit. Xevera sat up, the stinging in her back seemed to decrease slightly. 

“Okay, who’s up for ramen?” He slid the medkit out of the cell before leaning over to the two containers and handing one to her. She froze. “What?”

“I, Uh, it’s been awhile since I’ve eaten anything that’s not a hunk of meat.” She mumbled. Cayde laughed.

“Guess I’ll take ‘join a fallen pirate crew’ off my bucket list. Eating nothing but chunks of meat is not something I want to do.” Xevera smiled at the statement.

She carefully lifted up a pair of chopsticks, “so, how do you use these again?”


	5. Light

Xevera was asleep on the cold stone floor. Her dreams were dark. The cell around her was cruelly freezing. The vanguard hadn't given her any source of warmth and her clothes were too thin to do much. Her purple skin had turned pale, her teeth chattered and body shook.

She opened her purple eyes weakly and watched her visible breath enter the air. The darkness of her dreams begged for her to return, but she refused to be taken. Her body was curled in a fetus position, everything ached. 

The tower was always cold on winter nights but she had always been in her warm apartment so she never noticed much. Xeveras awoken body was built for the coldness of the reef, but even it had limits. 

She knew that today she would die. Not in battle or in execution. But in a dark cold dungeon. For a moment she looked over to where she had hidden the knife. She considered slitting her wrist but she knew that she didn't have the strength to pry the blade out of its hiding place.

Xevera started to feel sleepiness dragging her eyelids close. She wanted to fight it. But at the same time she didn't. So she closed her eyes and let out a breath.

***

Cayde walked down the dark corridor, Sundance serving as his light. In his hand was a thick cloth blanket. There was a blizzard outside tonight, though it didn't physically affect him, he could still feel the cold biting at his nerves. His gloves lye in his pocket, thanks to a recent feeding accident with colonal. 

Xevera didn't exactly have any caretakers so Cayde might as well do his daily good deed. "Wake up my fallen wannabe, I got something for ya!" He yelled as he approached the cell.

No response.

Cayde cautiously opened the door. Sundance shined her light to the frozen body of Xevera. "Shit." The hunter ran over and wrapped the girl in the blanket. 

"Cayde, she's dying..." Sundance said quietly. 

"Yes, I see that." Cayde snapped as he lifted her up. The exo sat down in the corner of the cell and pressed himself into her freezing body. His warm metal body smothered her coldness slightly as he held her. 

A few minutes when by, Cayde just stared at her face, praying to the traveler that she would wake up.

***

Xevera opened her eyes when she sensed heat on her skin. She couldn't see that well through her blurred vision but she knew something was holding her. She saw what looked like a hand and surged forward. Whoever it was, was clearly surprised at the action as Xevera sank her teeth into it, expecting the taste of blood. She was met with something else. A strange burning fluid that almost resembled... battery acid.

"Well you just threw, 'don't bite the hand that feeds you' right out the window." She looked up as her vision focused. Cayde looked down at her. "Do you mind giving me that back?" Xevera it down harder. The exo cringed.

"Please?" The woman loosened her grip and sat up, spitting the exo blood onto the ground as she did so. "You really took to the fallen lifestyle didn't you?" 

"Why are you here?" She demanded, crawling backwards. The exo looked at his ungloved hand that now had a huge gash.

"Came to feed my pet fallen, but it looks like she found my hand to be the better meal." He said sarcastically before holding up his hand to Sundance so she could heal it. "Your coming with me. Now. So pack your bags."

"What?"

"You almost freezed to death tonight, I'm not going to let that happen again." He said firmly. "I'll be back in a minute." The hunter jumped to his feet before exiting the cell. Xevera didn't waste another second. She crawled over to her knife, it's sheath was still on. Her body aches as she did so.

The woman grabbed the sheathed blade before sliding her shirt off. She shivered as the cold air hit her skin. Xevera gently slid the knife under her bra strap on her back. She slid on her shirt and moved her long pink hair to cover the shape of the knife.

Cayde came strolling in, a small white remote in his hand. "Okay, you can now safely leave this room, don't get any ideas though. All it takes is a click of a button and I'll make your arms bacon." The vanguard held out his hand. "Now follow me."

***

The city was a ghost town, not a soul stirred. It was unnerving to say the least. The blizzard raged as the two battled through the snow. Cayde kept the remote to her cuffs in his hands at all times. He made her cuffs heat up slightly when she lagged behind. Xevera was sure that it was meant to be a warning, but thanks to her already burnt skin, it made her tear up in pain. Cayde didn't seem to notice.

Xevera held on to the blanket, that Cayde had given her, for dear life. The wind whipped against her body, attempting to steal the source of warmth from her.

Finally the pair stopped at a building. Cayde opened the door for her. Xevera rushed inside and embraced the sweet warmth that engulfed her body. The howling of the wind was cut off as Cayde slammed the door shut behind him. "My place is right here" the exo said while pointing at a small wooden door a few feet away.

"So you just led a dangerous criminal to your home?" Xevera asked with a blank stare.

"Dangerous? Please I could take you on any day! Besides your a cute little pink haired fallen! It's hard to take you seriously." Cayde said with a smile as he unlocked the door and motioned Xevera inside.

The woman gripped the blanket harder before entering the room. "This pink hair will be the last thing you see if you don't shut the hell up." She growled.

The exo closed the door behind them, "so tell me, were you born with pink hair?"

"Eia." She responded. Cayde gave her a blank stare. Xevera felt purple blood rush to her violet cheeks, "um, I mean yes."

The exos face lit up like a child's on Christmas, "hey didn't you call me a 'sloat' before we started fighting, now I know I’m assuming things here, but that word sounds a bit like the word-“

“No cayde, I didn’t call you a slut.” Xevera stated. Cayde let out a sigh of relief.

“Oh? So what does it mean?”

“It’s direct translation is prey but the fallen uses it as a profanity.” She explained.

“Oh so you were cussing me out.” 

“Eia.” She said, not bothering to correct herself. “So is this my cell for the night?”

“Nope it’s your cell until your five months are over,” he said. Xevera whipped around but Cayde put a finger to her lips. “Ah ah ah! No complaints! This is your new and improved cell!”

“Your going to regret this.” She said.

“I probably am, but until then, sit down on the couch.”

“Why?”

“I need to adjust your cuffs, they are bruising you.” Xevera looked down at her hands, the white cuffs were indeed leaving dark purple marks at the edges. “Sorry I didn’t notice it at first. Kinda hard to see with your purple skin.”

“It’s violet!” She hissed.

“Sheesh, sorry” he said with his hands raised in defense. This was going to be a long night.


	6. Cold night

Xevera sat nervously on the couch as she watched Cayde scrambled around to clean the messy living room. The room needed it. The floor was littered with empty ramen containers. The table had stacks of beer bottles that Cayde had scooped up as soon as he began the quick sweep of the room. Loose bullets were in every nook and cranny of the place. When asked about it Cayde simply responded with, “never know when you might need them”

“Do they really need to be on top of the microwave?” 

“Hey! Someone could try to get me when I’m most vulnerable: heating up leftover ramen.”

Finally the exo seemed satisfied and approached her. He sat on the couch beside her and took her arms in his hands, earning a growl and a eliksni cuss word. “Ok, so I’m going to remove these. Sundance will be on standby to drop something on you if you try anything so let’s just all chill out.”

Xevera didn’t respond, only watched as the exo flicked a switch on the remote. The cuffs immediately came undone and fell on her lap. Cayde tensed. “What the actual fuck did you do?”

Her wrist weren’t a pretty sight. Dark purple covered the entire area, caked by burn marks. It looked as if someone poured scalding water onto her wrist. “I made a run for it at some point...” she quietly confessed.

“This complicates things, Sundance get the thing in the closet.” He told the ghost, she nodded before disappearing in a flash of light. “Lay down on your back, also this will probably be easier if you take off your shirt.” Xevera was about to peel off the shirt until she remembered the knife.

“Hey can you get me a drink of water? I’m a bit dehydrated from the walk over here.” Cayde gave her a skeptical look.

“I’ll be back in a second, you run, you get another knife in your back, got it?”

“Eia.” Cayde quietly got off of the couch and disappeared into a room. Xevera didn’t waste a second. She ripped off her shirt and grabbed the knife and carefully slid it under the couch.

She neatly folded the shirt before laying down on her tender back. Cayde returned with some water in a shot glass. “Sorry, I don’t have any cups that aren’t for ramen or alcohol.”

“No offense, but you have some issues Cayde.” She said as she drank the water like a shot before handing it back to Cayde.

“Ya I know, anyway I suggest you lay down.” Sundance appeared again in a flash of light, so did a weapon in cayde's hand. Xevera bolted upright but it was too late. She collapses to the couch as soon as the dart hit her neck. She couldn’t move.

“Ah sorry, I can’t trust you to not run away. Don’t worry though, it should also dull the pain.” He said as he placed the dart gun on the coffee table before grabbing a medkit that had previously been on the floor.

“Oh traveler, by the look in your eyes, I’d say I better sleep with one eye open from now on.” The hunter opened up the kit and began his work. He gently rubbed burn medicine on her arms, soothing the pain she felt from them. 

Next he left the room and came back with a small jar of sugar and a spoon. “Okey, not exactly sure if this works but it would hurt to try.” The exo laid her arms down before covering them in the sugar. Xevera watched silently, unable to talk. 

Cayde let the sugar sit for a before cleaning her arms and bandaging them. “Okay, so that serum in that dart will wear off in about an hour.” He stated as he plucked the object out of her neck. “Until then... I should probably get you something besides that thin cloth to put on... gimme a sec” the hunter then disappeared into another room. Sundance remained.

“Hey, wanna prank him? Move your eyes rapidly if you want to prank him.” Xevera did as the ghost said. “Okay, so basically I’ll give you the serum, it has an immediate effect, and you punch him when he least expects, Kay? Move your eyes if your on bored.” Xevera did.

The small ghost made a small syringe appear in a flash of light. It landed on her stomach. The ghost let out a beam of light that made the syringe float up then come down onto her neck and injected itself into her. The syringe immediately disappeared in a flash of light. 

Xevera immediately felt the control of her body come back. She flexed her fingers but didn’t move as Cayde excitedly came running into the room with a blue hoodie. “Hey Xevera, guess what I found! It’s my old hoodie that I always wore before I acquired my tasteful sense of style.” He said while motioning towards the custom armor he wore.

“As your ex mentor, I gift this to you,” he sat on the couch beside her. “Perhaps one day you shall find your sense of style, until then-!” He was cut off by a loud bang of fist meeting metal. Xevera punched him as hard as she could before tackling him and holding him down.

His surprised blue optics met her furious purple eyes. “If you EVER pull a stunt like that’s again, you will be crawling to the tower with no limbs, got it?” She growled. Her fist ached from the punch, yet she didn’t even make a dent.

“Ok I got it! Can you get off of me now?” Xevera smirked. 

“Why should I? I’m quite comfortable now.” She said smugly.

“Because things are going to get awkward.” His blue optics rapidly went back and forth from her face to breast. Xevera blushed slightly before slamming the exo into the couch and sitting up.

She grabbed the hoodie that Cayde had dropped on the floor and slipped it on. It was comfortable, and most importantly warm. The vanguard sat up and watched as she buried herself into the couch. “Sooo, you wanna have a Star Wars movie marathon?”

“Isn’t that series over six hundred years old?” She asked.

“Ya, but it’s a classic. I also have popcorn, what do ya say?” The hope in his eyes wasn’t something she could deny. She gave him a shrug. Cayde squealed before running into the kitchen. He stopped right before he entered through and turned around slightly.

“Oh and Xevera, not going to lie, I was enjoying the view.” The smirk on his face said it all. Xevera snarled and covered her chest slightly. The exo disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Sundance to watch her. Xevera was seriously considering taking out her knife and showing the hunter how intimidating pink hair could be.

The vanguard re emerged from the kitchen with a bowl in one hand and a chicken in the other. Xevera forgot her dislike towards the perverted hunter as she sat up eagerly. “Can I hold her?” She asked excitedly. 

Cayde looked a little confused but handed the bird over to the woman who carefully cradled it in her arms. “Aw she’s precious!” The awoken swooned as she cuddled with the chicken.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone this excited to hold a chicken...”

“I’ve never seen one in person! I mean, I remember what they looked like from my past life but since my rebirth I haven’t seen one.” She playfully poked the birds beak. Cayde smiled before setting the bowl down and walking over to the TV set in front of the coffee table. He inserted the disc as Sundance turned off the lights. 

The hunter sat back down on the couch and took the bowl in his arms. Xevera was hesitant but firmly laid on top of Cayde in an aggressive motion, the chicken didn’t seem to notice. Cayde did however.

“Woah, it seems my level one hundred flirting skills worked.”

“Shut up. I’m using you as a heater dumbass. I’m cold.”

The exo mocked a sad look, “and I’m being used for my body, how cruel.”

“Cayde I swear to the machine, if I didn’t have this chicken in my hands right now, you would be dead on the floor.”

“Her name is colonel, and yes I know, and I’m grateful that my dear colonel is here to protect me from the scary fallen lady.” 

Xevera gave him a playful punch before snuggling into him more as the movie played.


	7. Escape

“Well there’s something you don’t see everyday.” Xevera blinked open her eyes to look at the exo below her.

“Huh?” The woman took a moment to blink the sleepiness out of her eyes. 

“So, this is how the fallen sleep.” Cayde said with a hint of humor. The awoken sat up and looked around. She was currently sitting on a small support beam that connected the living room and the kitchen. The exo continued to look at her, no not at her, above her. Xevera looked at him, confused, until she heard soft clucking. She looked up. Colonel had successfully roosted on her head. 

“I.. um… is this what it’s supposed to do?” The vanguard laughed.

“No, not really, but hey! She likes you.” The chicken gave an approving cluck as to say yes. “Anyway, you should probably get down, I mean, you're actually super light but that beam has had better days.” Cayde's ghost decided to make an appearance.

“You mean it was perfectly fine before you decided to try to make it into an obstacle course.” Sundance said, a bit annoyed.

“Hey! As hunter vanguard, I must keep my skills in perfect condition! And it’s not like Zavala is going to let me out of this tower anytime soon.” He defended.

Xevera sighed before picking up the bird and handing her down to Cayde. “Ok, one down, one to go.”

“No, I’m staying here. I have the high ground.” She said.

“Oh ya… I forgot we spent like twelve hours watching the complete Star Wars saga…” he mumbled to himself.

“Ya.. I got to say though, the last skywalkers ending was pretty uns-“

“Hey! Hey! Hey! Colonel fell asleep during it! No spoilers!” The exo shouted, covering where the chickens ears were.

“Whatever. I hope you have a shower in this place.” Xevera started to carefully climb down.

“Yup, I’ve never used it but I have one, it’s right over their. And don’t worry, I still have the soaps they put it her over fifty years ago.” He smiled.

“I’m starting to miss being a guardian” she mumbled.

“Oh? Is the mighty Xevera coming back to the light side?” Cayde teased.

“No. I just miss not having to take care of myself like I have to do now. When you have a ghost who resurrects you constantly and basically turns you into a super zombie, you never have to worry about your body.” She pushed a strand of hair out of her face. “Either way, you don’t have to worry about that, do you exo?”

“Nope.” He said cheerfully.

“Either way, I’m stealing your shower.”

“On the bright side, you haven’t growled, hissed or try to kill me all morning. I will gladly take that as a win.”

Xevera froze before turning around and allowing the most feral growl she could muster to escape her mouth. “Don’t mistake my tolerance for you as friendship. Light.”

Cayde didn’t respond, only giving her a sad look before walking away. He stopped for a moment “the blizzard is still going strong, the vanguard knows your here and they will allow you to stay until it passes.” He started walking again before disappearing into a room.

Xevera walked over to a window and looked out. The window was coated in frost and all she could see was furious winds tearing through the seemingly abandoned city streets. The awoken felt a plan cooking in her mind.

She backed away from the window and entered the bathroom. Unlike the rest of the apartment, it was completely untouched. She wondered if Cayde had even been here since he started renting out the place.

Nevertheless she slipped out of her clothes and into the shower. The hot water encased her body with warmth and comfort. Her bright pink hair became dark under the water. Xevera looked around, there was shampoo, conditioner and body soap. Nothing else. She sighed before putting the shampoo in her hair and letting it sit before she herself lowered herself to the bottom of the tub and sat.

She cringed at the sight of her legs. They were bruised and scarred from her brutal training with the fallen. Cayde had seemed disturbed when he saw her back, she wondered how he would respond to seeing her legs. Nevertheless the female started to rub the soap on her skin, feeling every scar and every jolt of pain when she pressed on a bruise.

A guardian wouldn’t even notice a bruise before a ghost would heal it. Guardians tended to not notice a lot of things. Broken bones, wounds and bruises. Xevera closed her eyes at the memory’s.

She had grown a hatred and disgust for all guardians over time. But there was one being that she hated more than every guardian that ever existed combined. Herself. She pressed hard on a purple bruise that she had gotten from Cayde in their fight. She let out a gasp of pain and opened her eyes. 

Xevera quickly stood up and washed the soap out of her hair. She didn’t bother with conditioner before she finished washing her body and stepped out. She made sure to not turn off the water and reached for a dusty towel that hung on the door. 

After she was dry she slipped on her clothes and carefully opened the door, Cayde was nowhere to be seen. She snuck over to the couch, careful to silence her footsteps and mask her breathing. She gently grabbed her blade before creeping over to the window.

She didn’t look back as she opened it and was met with an icy wind in her face. She gritted her teeth and stepped outside. She almost squealed at the feeling of her warm bare feet against the ice. She had forgotten that Cayde took her boots. The walk over to his apartment, she had been to numb to even feel it. “Trying to escape I see.”

She froze as cayde's voice filled her ears, she whipped her head around. Cayde casually leaned against the wall behind her. She narrowed her eyes. “Just let me go. I just want to leave this damned city.”

“So you can go back to a pack of aliens who do that to you?” He said quietly as he gestured to her back. Xevera said nothing. Cayde continued, “I know you don’t trust us anymore. I know you were hurt, and I know you are hurting now. So please just stay. We can work through all of this together. You can reconnect with the guardians, reconnect with the light.”

“No.” The exo gave her a surprised look. “I want nothing to do with the light. Never again.” 

She turned fully around, “they broke me because of the light. And the light did nothing to stop it. The light couldn't do anything to stop it. It couldn't protect me when I needed it most.” Xevera turned back to the window.

“I’m sorry.” Without another word she leapt from the window to the snow covered ground below.


	8. Remember

Xeveras muscles tensed as she looked around. On her left was Zavala and ikora with about seven guardians behind them. On her right was Cayde with a handful of hunters by his side. The awoken female stood on the edge of the wall surrounding the city, armed with nothing but her knife. “Stop this Xevera, there is no outcome where you win!” Ikora yelled through the thick ice storm separating them.

The female edged closer to the edge of the wall, Cayde flinched. “Give me the USB and let me go.” She screamed.

“You know I can’t do that Xevera.” Cayde stated firmly. Panic swirled in her chest.

“Give it to me!” She screamed, tears filling her eyes. Cayde didn’t move. “Please… you don’t know what he will do to me if I show up empty handed…” she begged.

“You don’t have to go to them! Stay here, with your true family.” Cayde reasoned as he slowly stepped forward, reaching his hand out to hers. The female felt her hand rising from its place and her side to reach for his.

_ Xevera felt tears sting her eyes as another blow hit her back. She felt the cloth on her back rip. She screamed out in pain. Her sign of weakness was quickly met with a swift blow to her stomach, causing her to roll over in pain. The wounds on her back stretched as she did so, adding more pain. “Tell me. Where is the ghost?”  _

_ The harsh voice seemed to carve its way into her ears, she shuddered. “Never.” She screamed as her short hair was pulled upwards until she was face to face with the fallen captain. _

_ “So much defiance, so much loyalty to that wretched machine.” He dropped her to the ground, causing her to scream. “It will be fun to break a guardian. A hunter no less.” His voice held a great amount of thrill. Xevera whimpered as the whip cracked down on her exposed bruised stomach, followed by a deafening scream. _

Xevera snached her hand back so much force at the memory as she lost her balance and felt gravity consume her. It happened so fast. Cayde's eyes widened as he desperately ran to her but it was too late. Xevera felt the wind carve into her back as she fell. Time seemed to stop as she looked up at the traveler. It seemed to look back at her. 

She didn’t struggle, she didn’t scream, she closed her eyes.

_ “Xevera! We have to go back for her!” Sams scream echoed through the earth ruins. The awoken stood under them, an army of fallen coming at her. High above her was a high platform that held three guardians. _

_ “We can’t! Our light is gone, we will die! Sandy, do you have contact with the tower yet?” Joseph demanded. _

_ “No… it’s like the signal was cut off…” the titan explained as she desperately looked through her data pad, holding her unconscious ghost in her hands. _

_ “That’s impossible!” The titan screamed at her. “What the hell is going on in that city…” he mumbled. _

_ “G-guys I need help! Please. I can’t hold them off for much longer!” The hunter yelled through the com. The titans looked at eachother. _

_ “What are we waiting for!? Let’s go” the warlock demanded as he looked down at the cornered hunter. _

_ “No.” Joseph stated. Sandy looked started but hesitatingly nodded. _

_ “What?” The warlock asked in disbelief. _

_ “Don’t you see? Something has happened to the signal, to our light!” He yelled, stepping forward. “The traveler has abandoned us! How else would our light leave us?” _

_ “No.. that can’t be it. It leaves too many questions unanswered…” Sam reasoned. The titan was about to respond when a desperate scream filled the com. _

_ “Please, I can hear you. Please don’t leave me. I… I don’t want to die.” That was the breaking point. Sam darted over time sandy and snached a rifle that previously sat near her feet. He pointed the weapon at the pair. _

_ “I’m not giving you a choice. We are going down here and helping her, now.” He demanded. _

_ “No..no no! We will die!” Sandy screamed desperately. _

_ “Then we will die for our fellow guardian.” Sam stated. _

_ “No!” The titan screamed before charging forward and taking hold of his throat and tackling him to the ground. The warlock desperately tried to point the gun at her but the weapon was quickly kicked out of his hands by Joseph. _

_ Xevera was slashing through the fallen that rained on her, she had lost ammo a while ago. The com was chaos, she had stopped paying attention until she heard a sickening snap. She froze as static filled her ears.  _

_ She looked at the platform above as a body was thrown off. Sam. She screamed as the warlocks body slammed in between her and the fallen. “No!” She screamed as she took her knife and fought through the aliens with her rage.  _

_ One by one the fallen fell. Until it was just her in a field of death. She turned around to gaze at sam's body. Xevera appoched it, numb to her wounds. She collapsed down onto him and let out a mournful scream.  _

Xeveras eyes shot open as she felt something strong grab her right before her body touched the ground. Her head darted up in surprise only to feel tears of joy run down her cheeks. “Nox…” she said weakly.

The alien didn’t respond as it carried her swiftly through the forest. The trees around them blurred with speed. Xevera closed her eyes, she did not feel safe.

***

“We have to go after her!” Cayde yelled as the vanguard entered the hall. Ikora worriedly looked out the window.

“Cayde…” ikora sighed.

“You heard her! That fallen captain is going to do something to her!” He yelled. Cayde walked around the table to stand next to ikora. 

“Cayde… we can't spare anyone at the moment. Especially you.” The warlock reasoned. 

“So I’m just supposed to leave her to her fate?” He demanded. Ikora did not respond.

*** 

Xevera awoke. She slowly pulled herself off of the cold floor she was on and looked up. Her blood went cold, she was in the captain’s quarters. “You have failed me.” He said in perfect English. Xevera turned around to gaze upon the captain.

The alien didn’t say another word before walking past her and to a small compartment in the wall. “What happens when we fail?”

“We are punished.” She stated. The alien grabbed a few objects from the compartment before turning to her. Her heart sped up when she saw the objects.

“Yes.” Was all he said before approaching her. She did not struggle nor scream. All she could do was close her eyes and remember the warmth she felt, both on her skin and in her soul, when Cayde had held her.


	9. Return

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m back! Sorry this took so long, I had at least 20 different storylines for this book, in the end I chose this one, hope y’all like it!

Cayde-6 frowned as he watched the chaos around him. Ikora and Zavala were desperately giving out orders to the guardians who even bothered to wait for orders. The city was in a panic.

The exos eyes drifted to the window where the sky was littered with fallen ships. None of the crafts were firing, simply waiting. “Cayde!” 

Zavala’s voice quickly put Cayde's attention on the awoken. “You are going to take a squad of hunters to the city and prepare the civilians for evacuation.” He commanded in his authoritative voice. 

“Almost all of my hunters are out Zavala, in case you haven’t heard, there was a particularly large bounty for some band of cabal.” Cayde stated. The titans face hardened.

“Then grab all who remain, the people’s safety is our first pri-“ the titans speech was shoved to a halt when a large thud sounded from outside. The vanguard froze, the staff within the meeting room tensed and quieted. 

The hunter vanguard was the first to move as he cautiously went for the stairs, hand cannon in hand. The rest of the vanguard followed. 

As the dim light of outside met his eyes, he stopped. 

Sitting in the center of the courtyard was a nightmarishly sized fallen commandship. Cayde immediately aimed ace at a fallen dreg that stood beside the ship. The alien growled something in its own language but didn’t attack. 

“Why I never thought I would see the day…” the hunters aim switched over to the descending door as a twisted voice leaked out. “The almighty vanguard cowering in their tower, how adorable.”

The ships door hit the ground to reveal a large fallen captain. Zavala took a few steps forward, seemingly to confront the giant, but the alien only bowed its head and stood aside to reveal a smirking awoken woman in fallen armor.

“Xevera?” Ikoras voice drifted from behind the hunter.

It had been three years since the woman had stepped and fell off the wall, only to be saved by a fallen vandal. Her violet skin seemed more pale, her pastel pink hair, much longer then before, curled in every different direction. The hunters face showed confusion as he saw the black cloth covering the left half of her face, leaving only one dull purple eye to stare into his blue ones.

“Like the new look?” She asked mockingly, pointing at her armor. The armor was truly a work of art. The thick black leather neatly wrapped around every metal plate and spike on her body like a bow on a dress. Speaking of the plates, pure silver metal carved into shapes that fit her body like a glove. 

Sharp spikes protruded from her shoulder, elbow and knee plates. A silky purple scarf wrapped around her neck and covered most of her chest. A mass of fur lay just behind her petite shoulders, connecting to a long tattered purple cloak that descended to her feet. 

“I made it myself” she smirked and stepped forward. The ex guardian stared at the vanguard expectedly. Nobody made a move and Xevera gave them a mock frown.

“Well? Are you not going to invite me inside? I believed I’ve made it very clear that me and my own mean no harm. I am simply here as a… diplomat.” Still nobody moved. “And to prove my… absence of will to cause harm,” she announced loudly as she watched guardians emerge from all around them. “I come bearing a zes… a gift.”

Sounds of struggle we’re heard from within the ship until two large figures emerged with a smaller figure dragging behind him.

A young human warlock was held tight in the grasp of the two fallen dregs. Xevera smiled before nodding at the two aliens who then dropped the boy to the ground.

The warlock groaned but didn’t stand up. “My apologies, he had to be heavily sedated, I’m afraid he wasn’t too happy about his living arrangements.” The ex guardian's gaze drifted from the boy to cayde. The exo could have sworn he saw a flash of life in those dead eyes. “Go on now. Take him.”

Nobody stepped up. She rolled her eyes, “oh come on, now you all are just being ridiculous, I’m not going to Ramsay Bolton him, if any of y’all even know that reference.”

“It’s from Game of thrones!” A voice yelled from the growing crowd of guardians. 

Xevera smiled, “good to know at least one of y’all are cultured. Now, is anyone going to come up? Anyone? Well then I guess I’ll just take my gift and le-“

“Wait.” The awoken turned her head in surprise as the hunter vanguard sheathed his weapon and approached the boy. His blue optics gave Xevera a neutral look as he passed her. 

A slight groan came from the boy as the exo put the warlock's arm over his shoulder and walked over to the crowd of guardians and handed the boy to a female exo warlock who quickly took the boy and ran towards the infirmary.

“Now that we have formalalities out of the way, may I now discuss diplomatic business within the vanguard hall?” She asked politely.

“What kind of diplomat has battleships blocking every exit?” A warlock from the crowd demanded. A smile curled on her lips.

“I simply wanted to make sure that this meeting would not be interrupted by an attack on the city!” She mockingly put her hand on her heart, “and I know how much you guardians would hate it if an alien fleet big enough to burn your beloved city to the ground,” she gestured up into the sky where hundreds of ships hovered. “We’re to come uninvited and attack.”

Her gaze met Zavala’s, “it would be such a shame if that were to happen, wouldn’t it, titan vanguard?” Her mock smile widened as she narrowed her eyes at the titan.

“Yes, it would be.” He said coldly. “So we will go inside to discuss this, diplomatic purpose for your arrival.” 

The awoken women smiled again before advancing forward, the fallen captain following her. 

  
  



	10. An update

Purple lizard: Hey guy! I know it’s been awhile, but I am updating soon!

Xevera: bitch please, I haven’t heard that big of a lie since I got ripped off by Bethesda 

Purple lizard: Hey! I mean it this time! (And Bethesda isn’t THAT bad)

Xevera: you poor naive child...

Cayde 6: sureee THATS why your making this update in this style rather then your usual writing…

Purple lizard: Ok, ok. I’ll admit I was too lazy to actually write this in a professional manner, buuut it’s kinda hard to do a chapter like this in my usual style

Cayde 6: hey, aren't we doing a corona update? How are we starting this thing off?

Xevera: ok, move over losers and let me do the talking! After all… I AM the main character~

Cayde 6: I thought you were the bad guy? Actually… The last chapter directly showed that you were now a bad guy. Right, Purple lizard?

Purple lizard: Umm… yes but actually no…

Xevera: you are both fucking losers, ANYWAY! Guys, I know it’s been a rough year for you all… but please remember to keep a level head and remain calm. After all, the panic is half of the problem!

Cayde 6: and those Karen’s buying all the toilet paper are the other half

Purple lizard: I wanna correct you but… you kinda have a point

Xevera: so please, just stay safe and stay calm! Be sure to wash your hands and wear a mask when you leave your house!

Cayde 6: ya, and shoutout to all of the people in the medical field who are bravely doing their job and helping those in need. We all appreciate you!

Purple lizard: along with all of you supply transport people! Thank you for bringing us the resources we need in this difficult time!

Xevera: and we all hope the very best for the victims who have lost their homes because of the tornados…

Purple lizard: yes, all jokes aside, this is a horror crisis and I know that for many, it’s a horrible period in their lives, but if we all do our part…

Xevera: the world will get better! And this crisis will be a thing of the past and next time another pandemic like this occurs, we will be ready, more prepared and stronger 

Purple lizard: thank you all and goodbye! Til the next chapter!

Cayde 6: iiif it ever comes out

Purple lizard: it will!

Xevera: bye guys! Stay safe!

Cayde 6: still a bad guy! Anyways, bye everyone!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m thinking about doing a Q&A once I get enough questions, so feel free to ask pretty much any character that’s been mentioned or featured in this book (or just any destiny character in general)! Oh and, I won’t be doing a fourth wall breaking soo have fun with that!


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